Manufacturing Africa (MA) – one of the UK’s flagship economic development programmes for Africa – has today signed a strategic partnership agreement with London-based investment firm TLG Capital to strengthen and improve the eligibility of Nigerian manufacturing companies to raise capital through TLG’s Africa Growth Impact Fund II (AGIF II).
In a significant milestone, TLG Capital also confirmed the first close of the TLG AGIF II fund, raising $75 million towards its $200 million target.
The fund is anchored by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and backed by a coalition of forward-looking investors: Swedfund, Norfund, and Bpifrance.
Through this partnership, the UK-funded Manufacturing Africa programme will fast track investment by supporting Africa Growth Impact Fund II with due diligence, corporate finance, ESG compliance, gender inclusion, supply chain and manufacturing operations support to eligible manufacturing companies targeted for investment by the fund.
In a challenging economic climate, this collaboration is designed to support Nigerian manufacturers in accessing the capital they need to grow, create jobs and drive long term economic growth.
In view of this, the first Nigerian company enlisted for the UK Manufacturing Africa’s support to raise $7.5 million debt finance under this arrangement is Terra Aqua; an aluminium recycler based in Ogun State.
TLG Capital has expressed interest in investing this whole amount in the company subject to meeting environmental, social and governance (ESG) and other operational performance indicators that Manufacturing Africa will guide the company through.
This single deal has the potential to create 200 direct jobs and 752 indirect jobs utilising a recycling process that requires 95% less energy than producing primary aluminium.
Since 2020, Manufacturing Africa has supported 41 deals that are seeking to raise over $1 billion of foreign direct investment and create 38,000 direct jobs across Nigeria.
Across Africa as a whole, the programme has raised almost $2.4bn and created 102,000 new jobs. With the financial close of 13 of these deals, the programme has directly facilitated the inflow of over $150 million of foreign direct investment into Nigeria.
Speaking on this latest partnership, Mr. Jonny Baxter, the UK deputy high commissioner in Lagos, said:
“A strong manufacturing sector is key to driving economic growth and industrialisation in Nigeria and across Africa. By supporting TLG Capital, we’re fostering greater capital flows into Nigeria, which in turn supports job creation, generates wealth and secures a prosperous future. TLG Capital is one of the key partners we are working with to improve foreign direct investments that support manufacturing in Nigeria, which will have a lasting positive impact on both our economies”
Thomas Pascoe, Manufacturing Africa programme Team Leader, said:
“This landmark investment emphasises the scale of the development opportunity in manufacturing across Africa. Manufacturing Africa has already helped create 102,000 jobs through the $2.4bn of FDI we have supported, and we look forward to working closely with TLG Capital to support investments by the AGID II fund.”
Isha Doshi, co-founder of TLG Capital, said:
“Today, one in four SME loans in Africa is under stress, and yet, the entrepreneurial spirit is unshaken. AGIF II is about capital that understands context—financing that’s flexible, strategic, and backed by advisory horsepower from Manufacturing Africa. TLG AGIF II brings together both capital and capacity building.”
